If he does, Teixeira (36 in April), has a chance to reach 500 career home runs, a number he said Friday is a goal of his.

"I think if I play long enough I'll get there," Teixeira told NJ Advance Media Friday. "God willing I'll play four, five more years and that'd be a nice number."

Teixeira enters 2016, his 14th in baseball, with 394 home runs. If he plays another five years, just over 21 home runs per season would get him to 500. If he only plays four, that rate would jump to 26.5 per year.

Last year Teixeira hit 31 home runs in 111 games, a season cut short by about six weeks when he broke his leg in August. Not since 2011 has Teixeira played a full season--various wrist, back and leg injuries hampering his time on the field. It's reasonable to say he's missed out on probably 50-60 homers in that time.

Either way, Texieira faces a tough road to get to 500 home runs. Since 1980, only 18 players have hit 106 or more home runs from age 36 until the end of their careers. Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Rafael Palmeiro, Reggie Jackson the players among them.

But it's not impossible, of course. The likes of non-power hitters such as Craig Biggio and former Yankee Graig Nettles managed to, after all.

Teixeira's optimistic. His rate from last year--a home run every 12.6 at-bats--is something he says that's sustainable moving forward.